The difference between array antenna and phased array antenna
Array antenna and phased array antenna are two different concepts:
Array Antenna: An array antenna consists of a group of antenna units that can have the same radiation characteristics or different radiation characteristics. The main purpose of an array antenna is to increase the overall gain and directivity of the antenna. It achieves beamforming through reasonable arrangement and phase relationship between them. The output of each antenna unit is combined to form a concentrated antenna radiation pattern.
Phased Array Antenna: Phased array antenna is a special type of array antenna. By precisely adjusting the phase difference between each antenna element, the phased array antenna can produce a controllable beam pattern and can quickly turn the beam in space Angle. Phased array antennas can be mechanically scanned, electronically changing the pointing Angle for fast, flexible and accurate directivity.
In summary, an array antenna is an antenna system composed of multiple antenna elements, which is used to increase the total gain and directivity of the antenna. Phased array antenna is a special array antenna, which can control the phase difference of each antenna unit to achieve controllable beam shape and fast directional conversion. Phased array antennas are widely used in communication, radar, radio navigation and other fields.
Phased array antenna receiving principle
The receiving principle of phased array antenna can be summarized as follows:
1. Multiple receiving channels: phased array antenna consists of a plurality of antenna units, each antenna unit has a corresponding receiving path. These reception paths independently receive electromagnetic waves from signal sources, such as wireless signals or radar echoes.
2. Pre-processing and analog conversion: from each receiving path, the received electromagnetic wave signal is pre-processed and analog conversion. This includes operations such as amplification, filtering, and frequency conversion to convert high-frequency signals into intermediate-frequency or baseband signals.
3. Sampling and digitization: the signal after analog conversion into the sampler, through the sampler will be continuous time analog signal into discrete time digital signal. The sampling process requires appropriate sampling rate selection according to the frequency of the signal to avoid aliasing and distortion.
4. Phase calibration and registration: After digitization, the received signal is adjusted according to the pre-set phase calibration data to eliminate the phase deviation between different antenna units. In addition, registration operations may be performed to ensure time synchronization between the various paths.
5. Confluence and beamforming: after phase calibration and registration, the digital signals of each channel are weighted and merged to form a confluence signal. During beamforming, a different phase weight is applied to the digital signal of each antenna unit to achieve the desired beam directivity and radiation pattern.
6. Signal processing and demodulation: the confluent signal is further processed by digital signal, including filtering, demodulation, decoding and other operations to extract useful information or data. These operations can vary depending on the specific application, for example in a communication system it may involve demodulation modulated signals, in a radar system it may involve calculations such as target detection and tracking.
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